Who’ll be in Senate ‘Magic 12’ if polls held now?

MANILA, Philippines — If the May 2025 elections were held today, brothers Erwin and Ben Tulfo would lead the list of possible senatorial preferences, according to a Pulse Asia poll released on Tuesday.

In its latest Ulat ng Bayan Senatorial Pre-Election Preference survey, Pulse Asia prepared a list of 74 persons who may participate in the upcoming elections.

Respondents were allowed to choose as many as 12.

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Among the choices, 13 individuals showed a statistical chance of winning.

The survey, conducted from Sept. 6 to 13, showed ACT-CIS Rep. Erwin Tulfo ranking first, with 60.8 percent saying they would vote for him as a senator. He was followed by his brother Ben, a TV-radio personality, with 49.6 percent potential votes; and former Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, with 48 percent.

Sharing fourth to seventh places were Sen. Pia Cayetano (41.3) and Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go (40.3). Former President Rodrigo Duterte (38) and Makati Mayor Abigail Binay (37.5) shared the fourth to ninth slots.

Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. (35.9) and former Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson (35.5) landed in the statistical ranges of sixth to ninth and sixth to 10th places.

Completing the slate were former Sen. Manny Pacquiao (31.9) in the ninth to 11th places, and Sen. Imee Marcos (29.8), ranking 10th to 12th; Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa (26.2), ranking 11th to 13th; and Sen. Lito Lapid (24.7), within the range of 12th to 14th.

The Pulse survey also showed that 3.2 percent of Filipinos were not inclined to vote for any senatorial candidate, while 2.4 percent still “don’t know” who to vote for. Only 1.5 percent of the respondents declined to make their choices known. —Inquirer Research